Search Results for: system of a down

The European Union launched a probe Monday into 16 national organizations that collect royalties for composers and songwriters, charging that their system for licensing music is hampering the rollout of Internet downloading services across Europe. Record companies in Europe say they are willing to license downloads on a pan-European basis, but the royalty-collecting societies insist on licensing music authors’ work country by country, the way they do for concerts, radio and compact discs. In its statement of objections, the EU’s trustbuster said a preliminary assessment found the royalties societies’ cross-licensing arrangements are extending the organizations’ monopolies onto the Internet. Such… Read more »

What’s up with iTunes? At the ripe age of 1, the innovative market solution for legal music downloads has brought almost $70 million into Apple Computer’s coffers while reinventing commercial music choices for consumers. Other music retailers, including the behemoth known as Wal-Mart, have taken notice and followed suit. CDs? So yesterday, Dude. Before iTunes, the mushrooming problem of illegal downloads seemed, at least to the music industry, a challenge to its existence that could only be addressed by going after downloaders – like the University of Minnesota students last week – still being pursued. The iTunes bridge hasn’t ended… Read more »

Chevelle had to delay work on their next album for two weeks earlier this month because frontman Pete Loeffler was called for federal jury duty. “Even rock stars can’t get out of it,” his brother, drummer Sam Loeffler, laughed. “We really believe that it’s our responsibility to do jury duty. I did it before and so did [our brother/bassist] Joe. You have real life sometimes, and that’s just a part of it.” Pete did his time and was released without serving on a case, and now Chevelle are back in the studio writing for their next album, which they hope… Read more »

Long an artist’s sanctuary, the commercial recording studio is becoming a virtual fortress, guarding against the potentially devastating consequences of theft. The thieves’ targets are the rough mixes, outtakes, alternative takes and finished masters that traditionally have been loosely handled, even by the artists themselves. Leaks of this material are nothing new, but the advent of unauthorized file sharing on the Internet has greatly increased the consequences of this phenomenon. Recent albums by Eminem, 50 Cent, Korn and Radiohead were all available online prior to release, because unauthorized copies were leaked to unknown parties. In such cases, marketing strategies are… Read more »

Linkin Park, whose Meteora is one of the biggest selling rock albums of 2003, has joined the likes of Kid Rock, Metallica, and Green Day in nixing Internet sales and downloads of individual album tracks. The bands only want their full albums available for sale via Internet download. Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington revealed that the band still wants fans to get the music via the Internet, but he said it has to be done in a way that works for fans and the bands. “We’re all going to have to adjust,” says Bennington. “You know what I’m saying? Eventually… Read more »

Pearl Jam’s new effort, Riot Act, debuts at Number Six and 3 Doors Down’s new album, Away From The Sun, enters at Number Eight on this week’s Billboard 200. 3 Doors Down’s Brad Arnold revealed that the huge success of the band’s debut, The Better Life, gave the band freedom with the new album. “With your music, when it succeeds you just gradually can pull people, I guess, more to the things that you want them to hear. Or maybe you can get them to accept things that maybe they wouldn’t accept off a first record or something. I don’t… Read more »

Not even his father could have said it better. “This is diet Ozzfest,” Jack Osbourne quipped backstage at the sold-out KROQ Weenie Roast. Southern California’s authoritative modern rock radio station hosted its 10th annual summer concert extravaganza on Saturday and, yes, it did offer a glimpse of the summer’s most anticipated tours, especially Ozzfest. Ozzy himself could not make the festivities, as his daughter Kelly was performing across the valley at KIIS’ Wango Tango radio show alongside the likes of Celine Dion and past Weenie Roast favorites No Doubt. Why wasn’t Jack there? “We don’t get along,” he clarified. Representing… Read more »

If you’ve tried to download a song using Morpheus lately, you probably know that the most popular file-swapping software doesn’t work. Although an operable preview of a new version was made available Saturday, the shuttering of Morpheus on February 26 shattered the commonly held belief that file sharing without the use of a central server couldn’t be stopped. Software like Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster was thought to be shielded from the kind of plug-pulling that brought down Napster in July. Unlike Napster – which cataloged its available files on a central server that, if disabled, rendered the program impotent –… Read more »

Kazaa, the wildly popular free music-swapping service that emerged in the wake of Napster’s decline, may finally have shown a chink in its armor. Consumer Empowerment, the Amsterdam-based company that developed Kazaa and the Fasttrack file-sharing network on which it operates, has suspended all new downloads of the software, pending a decision by a Dutch judge in a copyright suit filed against the company by a European publishers’ rights group. The move doesn’t affect users who have already downloaded the Kazaa software; they were still able to swap music and other digital files via Fasttrack last week. Consumer Empowerment also… Read more »

System of a Down are on a Los Angeles soundstage shooting a video for the title track to their near-double-platinum second album, Toxicity. Bassist Shavo Odadjian is taking his first turn as director with the aid of veteran Marco Siega, who, in addition to helming clips for Blink-182 and Papa Roach, also crafted System’s TRL standard, “Chop Suey.” The prog-metal quartet has recalled the 200 black-clad fans who populated the “Chop Suey” video to mosh on command for this latest clip. The notion of fan involvement in a video is nothing new to Odadjian. Back in 1993, a young Shavo… Read more »